Hustler Lifetime Achievement Award - Devon Christopher

Living in a society as a young Black man and seeing the endeavors of many other Black men fail, it is refreshing and enriching to find inspiring, ambitious, motivated, and most importantly stylish Black men who are seeking to reach their potential through their talents and also diligently seeking to use those talents for a greater purpose. In Devon Christopher, current editor of Bleu magazine, I found both of these qualities which for many is an evanescent pursuit. Perhaps it was the elegant and encouraging words that Christopher used in his 2008 issue that was aptly titled "Black Boys Are Beautiful" when he spoke about the cultivation and preservation of the beauty of Black men that so many others have refused to acknowledge and appreciate that endeared me to him. "What if when, the world and mainstream media call him ugly or an animal, that his neighbors, friends and family reminded him everyday that he is beautiful? What if when he looked in the mirror and saw a smile in the reflection every time? What if old ladies didn't cross the street when they saw him approaching them?" Christopher no doubt is challenging those beliefs with his magazine that is an impressively and exceptionally well-designed upscale publication that was created as a fashion, music, lifestyle, and art magazine for sophisticated Black gay men, an audience and demographic that for so long has been completely devoid of any attention, something that Christopher understand himself being a Black gay man in America. A graduate of Seton Hall in 1999 with a degree in communications and marketing, Devon Christopher has always sought to become famous worldwide and to share his intelligence and creativity internationally. He has worked for Def Jam Records as a marketing assistant alongside some of the hottest names in hip-hop, in advertising at Universal Music Group, as a product manager for Asylum Records, and as the editor-in-chief of Bleu before changing his job to publisher of the magazine. Add restaurateur of a Harlem chicken spot named Atomic Wings as you can already see that Christopher is without hesitation a renaissance man. But Devon's greatest mission is the amelioration of the Black male condition. He is currently pitching a reality show titled "Material Boys" that centers around the lives of ambitious, self-made Black men to networks like the new Centric, Bravo, and Oxygen. If you want to see more about Christopher's magazine Bleu check out its website BleuLife here.